Back to Hell...and back again.

Training has commenced.

My second experience of Hell and Back is looming and I have made a promise to myself to complete the course in one hour (I completed the previous course in 1 hour 31 minutes). There is, after all, no better person to compete with than yourself (que motivational music and training video montage). 10km of muddy hills, dirty swamps and pride stripping obstacles – I’m excited.

Any training related to putting one foot in front of the other I.e. Running, has so far been sporadic, at best. I plan to couple running with weight training in order to reach that goal of one hour. As of today, I have vowed to run Divis Mountain twice a week in the run up to the event. As of yesterday, I have climbed Divis 3 times. First time round I stopped about 3 times and to be fair, Cormac (boyfriend and training extraordinaire) basically pushed to the top. Second time round, I stumbled to the peak, resorting to walking (and crying) five times. Most of these struggles were induced by the million squats I had completed the night before along with the hour long circuit class I completed directly before the run. Do not try this at home. For some strange reason I thought I was immune to burning out. It is true what they say, rest is a must. When you find yourself squealing at the thought of sitting down on the loo, it's time to call it a day (just the one day mind, I've training to do.)

I've known about this event for a couple of months so I really should have increased my jogging before now. In saying that, my friends will know that I am no stranger to a bit of tough exercise and with that, the occasional dose of tourettes. I’m hoping that this will stand by me – the training, not the tourrettes.

So this day in 3 weeks and five days I will be knee deep in sludge. I hope to keep you all updated on my training journey and together we can rejoice when I, mirroring something out of 'The Hills have Eyes', cross the finish line in first place (not actual first place, I'm competing with myself remember – que motivational music and training video montage). Wish me luck!

Clean as a Whistle...Hell and Back, February 2013